Definition:
This is the nice corporate way of saying: “This bit of IT kit is not your personal property, please stop treating it as such”
Explanation:
People have a very strong sense of entitlement when it comes to IT equipment. particularly in a corporation.
This can vary from shared SQL servers that they just simply hammer the hell out of thinking no one else uses them, to their laptops which they seem to think will just run forever and are outraged when they are told that a patch or upgrade is needed.
This puts IT support in a tricky position, because while they want people to feel a certain amount of engagement with the equipment, treat it well and use it fully, they don’t want people to treat it as if it’s their personal property and develop a personal attachment that makes it harder to manage for the good of the corporation as a whole.
The word that seems to be the perfect match for this need is “Tenant”.
If you are a tenant of a shared server, you know you are not the owner of that server, and moreover, it has overtures that not only might it be shared by other people, but will be used both before and after you. So please look after it.
Its just a nice phrase I’d heard desktop support use and figured other people might find it so.
Disclaimer: As always these posts are not aimed at anyone client or employer and are just my personal observations over a lifetime of dealing with both management and frontline associates.